Owner of Woodstock '69 watering hole Hector's Inn dies at 81

BETHEL — Jerry Hector, whose Hector's Inn gained fame during Woodstock and remained a gathering place for devotees of the seminal 1969 music festival, died Friday.

Hector, 81, passed away at Catskill Regional Medical Center, his daughter, Kathy Hector, said. He had been struggling for a while with heart problems.

"He did improve there for a little bit," she said. "We thought he was going to last until at least (the) Woodstock (anniversary)."

The inn's iconic status traces itself to Jerry Hector's hunch that more people than expected would show up at Woodstock. He stocked a truck with $5 cases of Rheingold beer and quickly sold out.

For decades since, people with nicknames like "Gentle Ben" and "Laughing Linda" have returned to Hector's for an annual Woodstock anniversary gathering in August.

"It was a place that they could feel like home," Kathy Hector said. "They felt like they were part of a family."

"Chef Perry" sat at one end of Hector's bar Saturday afternoon, wearing a "Hector's" tie-dyed shirt. He camped out at Hector's for the original Woodstock concert, and has known Jerry Hector since, he said. "He had hundreds of friends," "Chef Perry" said of Hector. "He had more stories than you can ever tell."

To his right, Steve "Jersey Steve" Morris was having a drink with his girlfriend, Barbara Bonkalski.

Jerry Hector not only attracted people with his stories, Morris said. People in need of help — a little money, a place to stay, a bar tab — always found themselves benefiting from Hector's generosity, Morris said.